The Root Of It
by REDskies
Summary: Japan is fiercely convinced that what he's doing to China is what's right and good for the country. Rated for bloody imagery.


**Title:** The Root of It  
**Rating:** NC-16 (Gory imagery)  
**Genre:** Uh. Gore? Somewhat. Historical too.  
**Characters/Pairings:** China, Japan | No pairings  
**Summary:** Japan is fiercely convinced that what he's doing to China is what's right and good for the country.  
**Notes:** ... I honestly don't know. Written with**inuyashacooks** in mind, when she asked for Imperialist!Japan, with Kiku being purely, well, imperialistic.

--

The twist of the second dagger in his thigh, and another white-hot flare of pain burst in China's sight. The gasps had ceased with the fourth stab, leaving his mouth gaping with each new assault, dry of saliva (_then what is that slow drip?_) and screams.

Another twist, and the running of a hand along his thigh in the crude parody of a caress. China forces his jaw closed, fearing that he would instead vomit the contents of his stomach-- And then he catches sight of the mess on the floor, bile mixing with blood to form a puddle of most interesting consistency, and he has to wonder how that got there without him--

The blade is pulled out of his thigh, and he can almost feel the flesh coming off, dangling by a few tendons of muscle, as he closes his eyes and grinds his teeth as his whole face creases with the stark pain. He won't die from this, and he knows it. He's been through worse, god knows what five thousand years entail, and he knows that he'll live through it.

Through the (_--_) pain, he can still feel that hand, every bit as pale as his, slide up it, painting their milky skin with the dripping, dark tint of his own blood. The blade once in his thigh drops, and that hand comes to stroke his hair, tucking some loose strands behind his face. The gesture would be considered tender, if he wasn't _bent over a fence with a blade in the back of his left thigh and the other with flesh hanging off it_.

"Chugoku-san, I hope you understand that I'm here to help you."

China musters up enough energy to pull his head back and give a look which drips with the sarcasm of _oh really?_

Japan frowns, and pulls him back a bit more. "You must understand. I _am_."

The words would be sincere, if not for the fact that the statement was accompanied by the unsheathing of another dagger from his belt, it's glimmer dangerous in the evening, and China can already _feel_ the pain to come-- Not that there's not already enough of that in the present-- with the screams he hears in the background.

"You see, Yao-san," he continues conversationally, toying with the blade on the hem of his shirt, "to make China a better, more modernized place and to resist those western powers--"

The action is quick (and quite morbidly, China wonders if a human would have died by the shock and loss of blood by this point), and Japan slices off that dangling piece of flesh of China's right thigh.

"-- We'll have to rid China of all it's ills first."

--

**Historical notes:**  
_- This is generally based on the Japanese colonization of China, no specific incident was targeted  
- Although I suppose I did think of the __Nanking Massacre__ at the end of this, but no specifics were used.  
- Japanese colonization, although some of it was for economic advantage and the increase in resources, also involved the mentality of Japan being the only modernized Asian country, and them genuinely wanting to aid the comparatively-backward nations. Some part of Kiku's actions are well meaning, but... Ah. _

**A/N:**  
_... Oh god, what did I just write, I don't even. I blame it on SEA history classes for srs. I somehow just remembered your prompt, __**inuyashacooks**__ . Happy very-belated birthday. Also, the um, actual gory imagery was very much inspired by __Peace, In Two Dimensions__, which is a truly excellent read. Really and truly. And hay, I just realised that I know how to write gore. Kinda. Pardon me if my descriptions of China's pain isn't accurate enough. You see, I haven't been stabbed in the thigh before._


End file.
